Chicago Shines Bright: Inside the 2025 Magnificent Mile Lights Festival, the Largest Night Parade in America

For 34 years, The Wintrust Magnificent Mile Lights Festival® has been Chicago’s electric pulse kicking off the holiday season — and in 2025, the city isn’t just flipping a switch. It’s throwing down a full-scale, creative, communal, heart-thumping celebration under the theme “Chicago Shines Bright.” On Saturday, November 22, Michigan Avenue transforms from world-famous shopping corridor into a glowing river of music, culture, and pure holiday adrenaline.

By sundown, it becomes something bigger: the largest evening parade in the United States, and the third-largest parade in the entire country. And, as always, the icons of wonder — Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse from Walt Disney World® Resort — take the lead like honorary grand marshals of joy, ushering in a night packed with spectacle: giant helium balloons twisting above the skyline, celebrities waving from illuminated floats, powerhouse marching bands from across America, and the moment thousands wait for — the Wintrust Fireworks Spectacular igniting over the river in a finale that feels like a holiday exhale.

But the real charge comes from the lineup. Chicago isn’t just showcasing its holiday spirit — it’s showcasing its talent.

Plain White T’s, the GRAMMY-nominated hometown heroes behind “Hey There Delilah,” will perform both on the parade route and earlier in a free acoustic set at Lights Festival Lane. DJ White Shadow, the GRAMMY-winning producer and Chicago native known for shaping global pop hits, arrives with an all-new float dedicated to the city’s musical heartbeat — complete with live dancers and performers riding the groove.

’80s/’90s synth-soul icons Club Nouveau bring their signature throwback energy, while Chicago’s reigning children’s music king, Justin Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime Players, opens the musical stage at 11 a.m. and later brings kid-powered magic to the evening parade.

Of course, the defining moment of the night is pure Chicago mythmaking: one million twinkling lights stretched across more than 200 trees along North Michigan Avenue. It’s a tradition older than most of the parade’s performers, a glowing ribbon through the city that signals — unmistakably — that the holidays have arrived.

With its blend of spectacle, hometown heroes, national talent, and big-hearted community celebration, the Lights Festival continues to be more than just a parade. It’s Chicago showing off what it does best: bringing people together, lighting the darkness, and proving — once again — that when this city shines, it shines brighter than anywhere else.

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